Crackdown

This Week In Co-Op: Crackdown

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This past week, one game has been on my mind. That game is Crackdown, a great co-op game for the 360. As is my nature, I always find the good games months and years after they come out. However, sometimes being late to the party can be nice, since I was able to discover Crackdown without the pretense of the Halo 3 Beta fury that was associated with Crackdown at that time. So, in the past week, I've been experimenting with the game and thoroughly enjoying the co-op experience.

I should first thank my Crackdown teammate, yimmt666, who I met randomly and is now my "Crackdown guy." So together with my fellow Crackdown gamer, I discovered the great fun that is Crackdown.

Hilarity described in detail, after the break.

First off, Crackdown is great for co-op gamers mainly because accessing co-op is fairly easy, and even to this day, there are plenty of people playing the game. Also, unlike some games, the addition of an extra player doesn't make it a cakewalk. I have many fond memories of mowing through enemies with my buddy, only to be blown out of the water by a rocket, thus necessitating a re-spawn at one of Crackdown's supply points.

As much as I love co-op games, I am an equal fan of single-player games, so I was surprised to find that the single-player and co-op modes of Crackdown are really the same and play the same. Also, the character you play as in single--player mode is the same as the one in co-op, and any improvements you make in the co-op mode transfers to the single-player mode, and vice versa. However, Crackdown is, to me, a game about great moments. So, instead of continuing on with my paragraphs of discourse about the game, I will give you some of my memorable moments in co-op.

After locating an enemy boss, my teammate and I fought through hoards of enemies to get to the boss. Our solution to defeating the boss? Dual rocket launchers. Now, certainly we could have killed him in a much easier manner. But there's nothing quite like watching an enemy flying, rag doll-style, while constantly being bombarded by rockets. That is until he bursts open, letting loose experience-giving orbs, like a sort of perverse pinata.

My teammate has an affinity for explosives. That's great and all, but the problem is that with explosives, you cannot necessarily determine who you are going to kill. More than once, I have run at my enemies, all gung-ho, only to be blown back by a stray rocket, followed by a "oops sorry." However, when you are a human tank, it doesn't really bother you much when your teammate accidentally blows you up.

My teammate and I were doing clean up after defeating a tricky boss residing on an oil derrick. After scouring the base for enemies, my teammate remarked "well, there's two left." Two seconds later, I located one of the two remaining and disposed of him via rocket. "One remaining" was quickly followed by another enemy meeting a rocket-related doom, to be replaced by my "no remaining" comment.

These are just a few of the memorable moments I had while playing co-op in Crackdown. I quickly discovered why I loved Crackdown's co-op: playing as a superhero with a superhero for a teammate is very rewarding. Along with generally fun gameplay, Crackdown also is a fun game in general, especially when you have with a teammate to enjoy destroying enemies.